Dutch Vowels: how to pronounce them

Dutch Vowels: How Do You Pronounce Them?

In Dutch, there are short vowels, long vowels and diphthongs. The difference between short and long vowels is important: sometimes the meaning of a word changes when you pronounce the vowel differently.

1. Short and long vowels

E

Examples: bed, pen, les, lessen

Pronounce the e briefly. Your mouth is slightly open and your tongue is relaxed. The sound is similar to the e in the English word bed.

Ee

Examples: been, steen, lees, lezen

Pronounce ee for longer than the short e. Your mouth is slightly more closed. The sound is somewhat similar to the English sound in say, but without the movement at the end.

A

Examples: man, kat, bak, bakken

Pronounce the a briefly. Your mouth is relaxed and open, and your tongue is low. The sound is similar to the a in the English word father, but your mouth is slightly (not much!) wider than when saying the English father.

Aa

Examples: maan, kaas, slapen

Pronounce aa for longer than the short a. Your mouth is wide open and slightly tense, almost as if you are smiling broadly. Make sure to hold the sound for long enough.

U

Examples: bus, put, muts, kussen

This sound does not exist in many other languages. Round your lips slightly, as if you were going to say an o, but pronounce the sound like a short i. So your tongue stays at the front of your mouth (!).

Uu

Examples: muur, vuur, duur

Round your lips as if you were going to say oo, but keep your tongue at the front of your mouth. Your tongue may even touch your front teeth.

O

Examples: bot, zon, kop

Pronounce the o briefly. Your lips are slightly rounded and your mouth is not fully open. The sound is a bit similar to the o in the English word forest.

Oo

Examples: boom, school, brood

Round your lips and keep your mouth relatively closed. Your tongue is towards the back of your mouth. The sound is somewhat similar to the English o in low.

I

Examples: vis, zit, kind

Pronounce the i briefly. Your mouth is slightly open and your lips are not rounded. The sound is similar to the i in the English word sit.

Ie

Examples: fiets, zien, drie

Your mouth is almost closed and your lips are not rounded. The sound is similar to the English ee in see.

Oe

Examples: boek, zoeken, stoel

Pronounce oe as a long sound. Your lips form a very small circle, as with uu, so your mouth is rounded and tense. Your tongue is pulled back, towards the back of your mouth. The sound is similar to the English oo in look or food.

Eu

Examples: deur, neus, keuken

Round your lips, but keep them relaxed, as if you were going to say oo. However, pronounce the sound with your tongue at the front of your mouth. The sound is similar to the French eu in deux.

2. Diphthongs

With diphthongs, the position of your mouth changes while you pronounce the sound.

IJ / EI

Examples: ijs, trein, klein, meisje

Start with your mouth open and move your tongue upwards and forwards. Your mouth gradually becomes slightly more closed as you pronounce the sound. The sound is somewhat similar to the English eye, but your mouth is wider open, almost as if you are smiling.

There are two ways to spell this diphthong: ij and ei. The spelling ij is called lange ij (long ij). The spelling ei is called korte ei (short ei). However, the pronunciation is exactly the same. One is not pronounced longer than the other. Even Dutch people have to learn whether to use ij or ei when spelling words.

Example: "Lijden" with ij means "to suffer". "Leiden" with ei means "to lead". There is no difference in pronunciation.

AU / OU

Examples: blauw, koud, auto, vrouw

Start with a relaxed, open mouth and move your lips into a rounded shape. The sound is similar to the English ow in cow.

There are two ways to spell this diphthong: au and ou. The pronunciation is exactly the same. Even Dutch people have to learn whether to use au or ou when spelling words.

Example: "Rouw" with ou means "grief". "Rauw" with au means "raw" (for example, raw meat). There is no difference in pronunciation.

UI

Examples: huis, tuin, bruin, muis.

This sound is difficult for many language learners. Start with a sound similar to the short Dutch a, but let the sound come more from your mouth than from your throat. Then make your mouth rounder (moving towards the letter j) and move your tongue upwards. This sound does not exist in English.

3. Schwa (sometimes spelled 'schwa')

The schwa is a sound that sounds like a short, soft uh. You pronounce this sound in words such as de, lopen, bakker, begrijpen, lelijk and vriendelijk.

The schwa is not written with a separate letter. You usually write this sound with an e, but sometimes also with other letters (for example, ij). The schwa occurs in syllables that are not stressed. Your mouth and tongue make very little movement when producing this sound.

The schwa is the most common vowel sound in Dutch.

Practice tips

• Look in the mirror while pronouncing the vowels.
• Pay attention to the shape of your mouth and lips.
• First, pronounce the words slowly.
• Then repeat the words at a normal speaking speed.
• Exaggerate! Many language learners pronounce the aa and ee sounds too weakly.

Compare

Which sounds are difficult depends a lot on which languages you already know. Test your strengths and weaknesses. For example, compare these Dutch words:

• Buur – Boer
• Heus – Huis
• Man – Maan
• Buk – Boek
• Peen – Pijn